Democrats’ week of living confidently

They have rallied around stances that, until recently, would've been politically perilous. | AP Photos

“Obama was playing offense. This was not a timid speech and I think they really feel emboldened by the political upside of acting on climate change,” said Navin Nayak, vice president of the League of Conservation Voters. “The last six months have really signaled a huge shift in the politics of this issue and I think Obama’s speech was the starting pistol of a new debate on this issue.”

And when an ambitious Democratic politician in Texas, of all places, is staking her public image on a fight for abortion rights – Davis cast it as a women’s health issue – well, that tells you something about where the party thinks the electoral middle is these days.

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New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, noted that politically, the middle isn’t going to be in the same place everywhere. A national shift toward the left on immigration and gay marriage isn’t necessarily going to help Democrats win House seats in places like West Virginia and Arkansas, or Senate seats in Louisiana and Kentucky.

But in the larger sweep of things, Israel said, there’s little doubt in his mind which party is on a positive track with “moderate, independent, suburban and exurban voters in particular, who are tired of ideology and tired of intolerance.”

“Fundamentally, a member of Congress and a candidate for Congress has to reflect the values and priorities of the district in which they live. But just as fundamentally, every poll I’ve seen shows that swing voters have had it with Republican intolerance and extremism and obstructionism and want the country to move forward,” Israel said.

Asked if he was surprised at the speed with which perceived liberal vulnerabilities had become pillars of Democratic electoral strength, Israel said: “I guess I always believed that there was a certain gravity that was going to set in. I’d say I’m surprised at the speed of the gravity that has set in.”

EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock somewhat backhandedly credited the GOP with accelerating the pace of change, arguing that the Republican Party “has defined itself as a party that wants to roll back the clock,” fueling interest in figures such as Davis and galvanizing the growing progressive coalition on a wider set of issues.

”Because the Republican Party has taken this stance in so many places, you are seeing a re-energized progressive movement that not only wants to hold the line and prevent them from doing it, but wants to actually advance the cause,” Schriock said.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, admitted to feeling “mildly euphoric” at what he called the turning of a political tide.

“While Congress diddles through another do-nothing summer, there are huge waves of change out here in the country,” Rybak said. “I remember being one of the very few politicians who was marching against Iraq in the early days, while trying to stand up for immigrant rights in the wake of 9/11, and GLBT rights when Republicans were winning elections.”

Rybak reflected: “The point I made to people is that sooner or later, not only will these things proven to be right, but it will be the majority.”